Micky Mellon relishing Town's FA Cup trip
Manager Micky Mellon is relishing the prospect of showing how far his Shrewsbury Town side have come when they meet Walsall in the first round of the FA Cup.
Town travel to the Banks's Stadium tomorrow to take on Dean Smith's side intent on revenge after being knocked out of the competition by the Saddlers at the same stage last season.
The teams met three times in league and cup during 2012-13, with Walsall winning on each occasion.
Town also failed to score in any of those fixtures and now Mellon is determined to give Salop fans something to shout about against their Midlands rivals.
He said: "This is a game we are taking very seriously. We know how important it is, it's a local derby and we are really looking forward to testing ourselves against against a team from a higher division.
"This is a team that has beaten Shrewsbury in previous years, so it's a good chance to show just how far we have moved forward.
"When the draw was made it ticked a lot of boxes for us. We knew it would be a tough challenge, but it is also an exciting challenge.
"We are going into it fired up because we want to be beat Walsall and we want to get into the next round."
Shrewsbury have already enjoyed cup success this season with an heroic showing in the Capital One Cup which included giant-killing wins against Leicester, Blackpool and Norwich.
Now Mellon wants his players to embark on a second cup run after defeat against Chelsea saw them exit the competition.
"I hope we can repeat the magic of the Capital One Cup in the FA Cup," he said. "We will be going there to win the game.
"We have enjoyed what has happened in the previous months, as well as the last few weeks in the league and the Chelsea game, but we have to look forward now. I'd love another cup run."
